When I was a missionary, my house was robbed and my car was stolen and all the good Christians were quick to remind me that it was “just stuff”. They said, “Things don’t matter, people matter!” And then they gave me lots of money to replace the old just stuff with new just stuff.

But when protests against the ongoing brutalization of black Americans turn into riots which result in property loss, the same good Christians are appalled and dismayed by the damage to *stuff*. They show more concern for the plight of a burnt car than for that of a murdered man.

Because apparently “things don’t matter, people matter” — unless you’re a black person begging to be seen and heard by a system that has ignored countless injustices against your community for too long.

The same white evangelicals who were so quick to care for me (and who romanticized the loss of my property as something god would “use”) are just as quick to condemn the (justified!!!) anger of black PEOPLE and be utterly horrified by the damage to... wait for it...JUST STUFF.

Black *PEOPLE* are dying
STUFF is burning

ONLY ONE OF THESE THINGS MATTER
The other can be replaced

“Things don’t matter, people matter.” ...Or don’t you believe that?